In U.S. Pat. No. Des. 244,427 there is disclosed a large plastic water bottle of circular transverse cross-section with reinforcing ribs or bands extending therearound. This bottle has met with considerable favor in replacing the heavy glass water bottles previously used. However, because of the thin plastic walls of the bottles, it is necessary to place them in wooden crates to protect them and for stacking during storage and delivery which, obviously, is quite costly. Furthermore, these crates do not interlock to keep a stack straight.
The present invention provides a water bottle of the general type indicated made of thin plastic, such as polycarbonate, which is strong and capable of being stacked and handled during storage and delivery without being protected by wooden crates or the like. To accomplish this, the bottle is made of square or rectangular transverse cross-section with reinforcing bands or ribs extending therearound. On opposed flat sides, each bottle is provided with a locking projection or tenon of square form and a complemental socket or mortise of square form, respectively. This makes it possible to stack a plurality of the bottles on their sides with the adjacent bottle sides in contact and with the tenons and mortises thereof interfitting to keep the stack straight. The interfitting tenons and mortises also locate the reinforcing ribs of the adjacent bottles of the stack so that they are in vertical alignment and rest on each other to maintain the strength of each bottle in the stack. Consequently, with this arrangement it is not necessary to enclose each bottle in an expensive crate for storage or delivery. The quadrangular cross-section, preferably rectangular, of the bottle provides for better space utilization in warehousing and delivery as compared to the bottles of circular cross-section. The angular bottles are easier to carry on the shoulder in delivery and do not tend to roll off. Also stress on the flat surfaces of the plastic bottle is distributed better as compared to that on curved surfaces.